Publication History Originally published February 1983, AORN Journal. Revised November 1988, February 1992. Revised November 1995; published May 1996, AORN
Journal. Journal.
Revised and reformatted; published December 2000, AORN
Revised 2006; published in Standards, Recommended Prac- tices, and Guidelines, 2007 edition.
Minor editing revisions made to omit PNDS codes; reformatted September 2012 for publication in Perioperative Standards and Recommended Practices, 2013 edition.
Revised September 2013 for online publication in Periop- erative Standards and Recommended Practices. Minor editing revisions made in November 2014 for
publication in Guidelines for Perioperative Practice, 2015 edition.
Evidence ratings revised in Guidelines for Perioperative
Practice, 2018 edition, to conform to the current AORN Evi- dence Rating Model. Revised 2019 for online publication in Guidelines for Peri- operative Practice.